PRESCOTT, Ariz. – The long wait between the fall and spring seasons ended on Sunday for the Concordia University men’s golf team. The Bulldogs are now two-thirds finished with the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Spring Invite held at Antelope Hills South Course in Prescott, Ariz., the spring break destination for head coach Brett Muller’s squad. Over the first two rounds, Concordia has carded a 36-hole total of 307-310–617 (ninth place).
The Bulldog men’s golf team last competed at the fall portion of that GPAC Championships, which took place Sept. 27-28 in Omaha, Neb. Now is the time for Concordia to begin to sharpen its game in hopes of eventually making a move from its current positioning of seventh in the GPAC.
“It’s been awesome to see Drew (D’Ercole)’s offseason work translate in his scoring the last two days,” Muller said. “As a team today our putting wasn’t as good as it was in the first round. I thought we hit the ball better today but didn’t score as well.”
Spring break trips have now become an annual occurrence for Bulldog golf. Last year the women’s team ventured to Timacuan Country Club in Lake Mary, Fla. This year it was the men’s turn. Two seasons ago they descended upon Grand National Golf Course in Opelika, Ala. The field at this week’s ERAU Spring Invite includes several teams local to Arizona as well as competing groups from California and Minnesota.
A freshman from Papillion, Neb., D’Ercole is tied for 14th on an individual leaderboard with 67 names. D’Ercole has had a consistent (74-73–147) back-to-back rounds while showing considerable improvement from the fall (82.5 average in eight fall rounds). The rest of Concordia’s group of five at the ERAU Spring Invite includes senior Tylar Samek (77-78–155; T-44th), junior Jayden Neal (78-81–159; T-52nd), freshman Jay Gunaseelan (83-78–161; T-58th) and sophomore Jack Williams (78-85–163; T-61st).
The first tee time for Concordia on Tuesday (final day of the tournament) will be at 9 a.m. MT / 11 a.m. CT.